VOA慢速英语-Development Report - For Rural Poor in India, a Bett

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A better rat trap has led to a better life for the Irula tribe¹ in Tamil Nadu state in southeastern India.
　
The improved design has a 95 percent success rate

The Irulas are one of the lowest groups in the Hindu social order. They live in rural² poverty. Many work as rat catchers in farm fields. Farmers pay them a few cents for each rat they kill.

The traditional way they catch rats is to light a fire in a clay pot. They blow air through a small hole in the bottom to send smoke into the underground spaces where rats live.

Then, for food, the catchers dig out the rats and any grain stored in their burrows⁴. But often the rats escape, and the rat catchers get burned on their lips and hands. Many also suffer lung and heart disease⁵ from breathing the smoke.

Several years ago, the director of the Center for the Development of Disadvantaged People in Chennai looked for a better way. Sethu Sethunarayanan worked with a mechanical⁶ engineer to design a steel trap.

With the new trap, the rat catcher still forces smoke into the burrow³. But the trap is attached to an air pump operated by hand. The catcher no longer needs to blow into the trap. And the pump has a wooden handle to prevent burns to the hands.

The Irulas asked for and received almost one hundred thousand dollars from the World Bank. They used the money to establish a factory to build the traps. It employs fifty women. The traps are sold for about twenty-five dollars each.

Rats can destroy twenty-five percent of a crop. The improved rat trap has saved tons of grain.

With the clay pots, rat catchers succeed only forty percent of the time. Some catchers could not earn enough money to feed their families. The steel trap succeeds ninety-five percent of the time.

An expert on international business visited Tamil Nadu and wrote a case study about the tribal⁷ rat catchers. Siri Terjesen from Texas Christian⁸ University is now a visiting assistant professor at Indiana University. Her report appeared last November in the journal⁹ Entrepreneurship¹⁰ Theory and Practice.

India has about three million Irulas. Ninety-nine percent cannot read or write. But now, with the better rat trap, they are earning more money. More are getting health care. And other Indians may think better of them for using modern technology. But more importantly, Siri Terjesen says many Irula children now go to school instead of catching¹¹ rats.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

2 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

3 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

4 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

5 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

6 mechanical   

adj.机械(学)的；力学的；机械似的；手工操作的

参考例句：

• He borrowed a mechanical book from me.他从我这儿借了一本力学方面的书。
• He looks very mechanical.他看上去非常呆板。

7 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

10 entrepreneurship   

企业家身份

参考例句：

• Spawr indeed personified American ingenuity, self-reliance, initiative and entrepreneurship. 斯帕尔看不上机构重叠和清规戒律，表现出美国人的机敏，有着独立、首创精神和企业家的风度。
• He provides evidence that n-achievement is highly correlated with entrepreneurship. 他提供的材料表明“n--成就”与企业家精神高度相关。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。